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Tim Worstall

Tim Worstall - Author Archive

Well Of Course No One’s Paying For Streaming Music Services

THERE’S a bit of a logical disconnect in this idea that we’re all going to sign up for streaming music services like Pandora, Spotify and so on. The problem being … (read more)

Posted: 16th, December 2013 | In: Money, Music, Technology, The Consumer | Comments (2)

Dictionary Update Says Geeks Are Cool And Not In the Least Bit Socially Awkward

SO the language changes once again. Collins, the dictionary people, has just released its list of words of the year. They always do this just before Christmas in order to … (read more)

Posted: 16th, December 2013 | In: Books, Reviews, Technology | Comment

Why Worry About Bitcoin? Why Not Just Start Your Own Currency?

I ALWAYS feel remarkable clever when I find the Financial Times agrees with one of my ideas. It seems like confirmation that I’ve had a good idea sorta thing. And … (read more)

Posted: 12th, December 2013 | In: Money, Reviews, Technology | Comment (1)

This Just Isn’t The Way To Make An Economic Argument

DEAR Lord this is piffle:
This year, state government subsidies to corporations, partnerships, and other businesses in New York state alone will total $1.7 billion, triple the giveaways in 2005, according … (read more)

Posted: 11th, December 2013 | In: Money, Reviews | Comment

The iPotty Is Declared Worst Toy Of The Year

IT is the season for the awards ceremonies and one organisation has declared that this, the iPotty, is the worst toy of the year. I have to admit that I … (read more)

Posted: 11th, December 2013 | In: Money, Technology, The Consumer | Comment

Candy Crush Saga: The Game That’s Too Successful To Float (See Zynga)

THIS is a fun little story. Candy Crush Saga is the all conquering barnstorming game of the moment and it’s made its maker, King, worth something like $5 billion. But … (read more)

Posted: 9th, December 2013 | In: Money, Reviews, Technology, The Consumer | Comment

Osborne’s Shelving The Fuel Duty Escalator Is The Right, Green Thing To Do

THIS might sound a little odd and I’ll almost certainly be the only person telling you this. But George Osborne’s shelving of the fuel duty escalator is the right thing … (read more)

Posted: 6th, December 2013 | In: Money, Politicians | Comment

Why Raising The Pensions Age Makes Such Damn Good Sense

GEORGE Osborne’s announced that he’s going to raise the state pension age and this makes damn good sense. No, not just because we’re all pig-faced Tories who love shafting the … (read more)

Posted: 6th, December 2013 | In: Money, Politicians | Comment

The Global iPhone 5 Price Index

THIS is a nice little piece of research showing the variation in price of the iPhone all over the world. You can set it to tell you the absolute price … (read more)

Posted: 5th, December 2013 | In: Money, Technology, The Consumer | Comment

So How Do You Train To Stick Your Finger Up A Man’s Bum?

THIS isn’t something I’ve ever really thought about: how do you go about training yourself to stick your finger up a man’s bum? No, no, not as part of the … (read more)

Posted: 4th, December 2013 | In: Money, Technology | Comment

Coal Kills So We’d Better Go Nuclear Then

This is a fun little report. It’s also true (if perhaps a little exaggerated). The burning of coal to generate electricity does indeed kill people.
Labour will this week urge MPs … (read more)

Posted: 2nd, December 2013 | In: Money | Comment

Isn’t This Lovely, Julian Assange Can Go To Sweden Now

I THINK we all recall that Julian Assange is holed up at the Ecuadorean embassy in London, yes? Well, there’s excellent news about his case, he’ll soon be able to … (read more)

Posted: 27th, November 2013 | In: Reviews | Comment (1)

London Slaves: Giggles And Oh-Shits About The Culty Three

THERE’S been a certain amount of giggling about those three slaves that were liberated in London. It turns out that they were not in fact slaves, not anything like it, … (read more)

Posted: 26th, November 2013 | In: Money, Reviews | Comment

London Slaves: Statement To Comrade Bala By The Central Committee of the Communist Party of England (Marxist-Leninist) – August 1st, 1974

I’M sure you were as shocked as I was at that story of three women being held as slaves in London for 30 years. But the story is now moving … (read more)

Posted: 25th, November 2013 | In: Key Posts, Money, Reviews | Comments (2)

The Real Reason For Bitcoin’s Surge In Price

I’VE long been a bit mystified by Bitcoin. You know this electronic currency that the geeks have been playing with for the past couple of years? As a little experiment … (read more)

Posted: 25th, November 2013 | In: Money, Reviews | Comment

Perhaps We Shouldn’t Have Expanded The Universities?

 

THERE’S a fairly basic economic concept which states that if you increase the supply of something then the price of that thing is going to go down. Other things being … (read more)

Posted: 25th, November 2013 | In: Money, Reviews | Comment

A Wealth Tax Might Be Moral But It Would Be A Disaster In Practice

There’s an idea going around that perhaps we should have a one off wealth tax to restore the public finances. The rich bastards have oodles of cash so if we … (read more)

Posted: 21st, November 2013 | In: Money | Comment

The Twitter Interview For Your Next Job

HMM, given the way that I eff and blind on Twitter this isn’t going to be good news for me next time I go out to look for a job:
Employers … (read more)

Posted: 19th, November 2013 | In: Money, Technology | Comment

Why A Carbon Tax Would Work

THE are various plans put forward for how we should deal with climate change. Some say we should do sod all, others go to the opposite extreme and demand the … (read more)

Posted: 19th, November 2013 | In: Money, Reviews | Comment

The Top 1% Now Pay 30% Of All Income Tax

NOW, you might say that the top 1% get more than 30% of the income so therefore they should be paying more in tax than this. But that isn’t actually … (read more)

Posted: 19th, November 2013 | In: Money | Comment

It Wasn’t Derivatives That Caused The Financial Crash So Why Regulate Them?

IT wasn’t derivatives that cauded the financial crash. Therefore regulating derivatives won’t be the magic wand that prevents another financial crash. This is something that they seem to have forgotten … (read more)

Posted: 14th, November 2013 | In: Money, Reviews | Comment

Edward Snowden Reveals A Good Idea: The NSA Spies On OPEC

THERE have indeed been some revelations from Edward Snowden and the rest over things that the NSA and GCHQ are doing that shouldn’t please the rest of us. Widespread spying … (read more)

Posted: 14th, November 2013 | In: Money, Reviews | Comment

The Guardian’s Nonsense About The Twitter IPO Cash

IT would appear that The Guardian is simply entirely ignorant of how this creative destruction stuff of capitalism works. Commenting on the Twitter IPO that made loads of millionaires they … (read more)

Posted: 12th, November 2013 | In: Money, Reviews | Comment

How Long Before Facebook Goes The Way Of MySpace? Ask The Teens

SO. Here’s an interesting little question. We’ve had several waves of social media sites already and none of them has really lasted more than a few years. Friends Get Divorced … (read more)

Posted: 11th, November 2013 | In: Money, Technology | Comment

Where Is The Evidence That The Power Companiers Are A Cartel?

THIS is an interesting call:

Paul Massara took to his personal Twitter account to vent his anger over the ‘cartel’ claims minutes after they were made by several MPs in the … (read more)

Posted: 11th, November 2013 | In: Money, Reviews | Comment

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